Out of the Past

Francis Everman

Private Investigator

Description:

Loner
Detective
Misanthrope
Lover of Humanity

My father always tried to warn me that it was a dark world. I didn’t realize it until I came to Los Angeles, the city of Angels. Its funny they should call it that. In my time here I’ve seen everything from low lives in high places to sinners who’d give you the shirt off their back. Monsters wait on every corner with smiles that’d charm the shrewdest of us. Some have claws, some have fangs, and some just have hearts black as coal. Who to trust? What is real? These are the questions my city is constantly raising. Things are always moving, and yet nothing changes. The last lights of humanity are flickering in the dark, refusing to die. And it would seem the world is getting even darker still. But perhaps with some effort it can be made just a little bit brighter. It’s not likely. But I can at least try.

Bio:

Francis Everman, firstborn son of Martin Everman, grew up in the American Mid-West on his family’s ranch. Towards adulthood, Francis and his family moved to California to pursue life in the larger cities. When he came of age he was enlisted into service in the Pacific Theater of WW2. After the war, Francis returned home and landed a job in the Los Angeles Police Department. He quickly gained recognition as an accomplished detective, closing many cases the department deemed unsolvable. His time as an L.A.P.D. detective came to an end after he experienced a nervous breakdown following the grisly murder of his girlfriend. Though the couple had been estranged for a while, they remained in contact. Up until the point of her death she had been giving cryptic messages, of which to this day he still does not understand the meaning. Unable to return to the force, Francis took up a more simple job as an insurance salesman, though his increasing alienation didn’t help him much in this career. Eventually, he took notice of the work being done by the insurance fraud department. Once again his talents for investigation surfaced, as he helped solve cases which had left the agency stumped for some time. He was asked to join the department as a full time investigator, but declined the offer, realizing he had lost his capacity for working with other people. Nevertheless, the experience helped him to realize that he could not deny his true calling. Francis decided to go into business for himself, as a fully licensed private investigator. These days Francis runs his private business out of a small office in Los Angeles. He has steadily made a name for himself under key persons of interest who require his kind of skills, but cannot go to the police. Francis’s main concern is always finding more work. But on a deeper level, he is occupied by the perpetual desire to unravel the mysteries behind the events surrounding that tragic day.

1. What is the worst thing your character has ever done?
She needed help. I knew that. Maybe I could have stopped it, if I had understood.

2. What is the worst thing your character can imagine himself doing?
Too much pain throughout my life. I already lost her. I must never let anyone close to me be hurt, or hurt them myself.

3. What is the worst thing your character can imagine someone else doing?
How could a person hurt someone innocent and harmless. I cannot even imagine the wickedness he would have to bear to do something so heinous.

4. What has your character forgotten?
In the dark underpass a strange creature looked upon the work he had done. I saw him there, lurking in the shadows. But it couldn’t be real. I would forget the monster if I must, but I will never forget what happened to her.

5. What is the most traumatic thing that has ever happened to the character?
I just can’t believe you’re gone. Maybe we never stood a chance. A relationship built on top of secrets, yet no one knew me better. The greatest mystery in my life was always you.